Bark-removing machine having horizontally and vertically guided cutter



May 13, 1952 w. J. WATTS ET AL 2,595,187

BARx-REMOVING MACHINE HAVING HORIZONTALLY AND VERTICLLY GUIDED CUTTER Filed May l0, 1950 6 Sheets-Sheet l FISQ/1- FIE S- May 13, 1952 w. J. WATTS ET A1. 2,596,187

BARK-REMOVING MACHINE HAVING HORIZONTALLY AND VERTICALLY GUIDED CUTTER Filed May l0, 1950 6 Sheets-Shea?. 2

if WM W. J. WATTS ET AL ING MACHINE May 13, 1952 BARK-REMOV HAVING HORIZONTALLY AND VERTICALLY GUIDED CUTTER 6 Sheets-Sheet 3 Filed May l0, 1950 May 13, 1952 WJ. WATTS ET AL 2,596,187

BARK-REMOVING MACHINE HAVING HORIZONTALLY AND lVER'IICLJJY GUIDED CUTTER Filed May 1o, 195o e sheets-sheet 4 N as@ 1 [madame: //a/W j M1775 d ffm/'vk 5. (4mm/v, M WM May 13, 1952 w. J. WATTS ET AL 2,596,187

BRKREMOVING MACHINE HAVING HORIZONTALLY AND VERTICLLY GUIDED CUTTER 6 Sheets-Sheet 5 Filed May 10, 1950 Q \& r/ @J T I T Y T1 I, www 1 S mm ww E 4N, M 4 .mw 7M 6 era WM@ [X567 Mhz /N nb @WM W. J. WATTS ET AL ING MACHIN May 13, 1952 2,596,187 BARK-REMOV E HAVING HoRIzoNTALLY AND VERTICALLY GUIDED CUTTER 6 Sheets-Sheet 6 Filed May 10, 1950 la 5 MN, M m4 m S 7 M m i o em an MJC l :5r D w D D? M afi? Mw? FLT@ .a x @I q, D uf k I :lll .Il l! n El? a 4A44414\r/ .V../ lll, E S t i x N o N. m=n S Patented May 13, 1952 BARK-REMOVIN G MACHINE HAVING HGRI- ZONTALLY AND VERTICALLY GUIDED CUTTER William J. Watts, Philipsburg, and Frank B. Cadman, Osceola Mills, Pa.;

to said Watts said :Cadman assignor Application May 10, 1950, Serial No. 161,186

Claims.

'This invention relates to a debarking machine and more particularly to such a machine for removingbark from logs which are to be used as pulp wood.

The `logs are ordinarily about live feet long and from three to twenty-four inches in diameter. Before they can be used as pulp wood, it is necessary that the bark be removed therefrom. This is ordinarily done by hand by means of a spud ax or draw knife duringthe summer months when the bark is relatively loose. Various machines have been developed for removing bark from the logs, but they have not proved to be eicient or practical so vthat at present most of the bark is removed by hand laborl as described above. One difliculty encountered in removing the bark by machine is the presence of inequalities in the log which makes it impractical for the tool to follow the contour of the log. Knots in the log also cause diilculty.

In most of the present debarking'operations, the bark is removed in relatively large pieces and if it is 'desired to use the bark as a by-product to obtain various chemicals, `it is necessary to rst grind the'bark into small particles, this being an expensive operation.

It is an object of our invention to provide a debarking machine which is under the control of the operator at all times so that the bark can be readily removed from the log regardless of its f shape.

Another object is to provide a debarking machine in which means are provided for feeding the `log under the cutters at variable speeds.

Still another object is to provide a debarking machine in which the cutter or cutters are rapidly reciprocated on the g.

These and other objects will be more apparent after referring to the following specification and attached drawings, in which:

Figure 1 is a top plan view of our debarking device;

Figure 2 is an enlarged top plan view of a portion of the device of Figure 1;

Figure 3 is a front elevation of the device of Figure 1;

Figure 4 is an enlarged front elevation of `a portion of our device;

Figure 5 is an enlarged side elevation of the debarker;

Figure 6 is an enlarged rear elevation of the debarker;

Figure 7 is an enlarged sectional View of the cutter and cutter mounting taken on the line VII-VII of Figure 4.;

u4l) and sprocket 42.

Figure 8 is a sectional view taken on thefline VIII-VIII Aof Figure 7; `and Figure 9 is an enlarged sectional view taken on the line IX--IX of Figure 8.

Referring more particularly to the drawings, the reference numeral 2 indicates a feed table for the logs L which are to be debarked. The feed table 2 includes two longitudinal `angles 4-and 6 supported on vertical angles 8 spaced vapart along the front and rear'of the table. l Corresponding front and rear angles' are connected by cross members I0. To insure stability, braces l2 may be used between the angles 8 and longitudinal angles 4 and 6 as best shown in Figure 3. The various parts 0f the feed table so far mentioned may be connected by means of bolts, rivets or by welding. A plate I4 is slidably mounted on the horizontal flange of angle 6. `Welded to the top of the horizontal flange of angle 4 is a plurality of spaced apart plates I 6. Extending upwardly from and fastened to each of plates I6 is a pin i8. A bracket 20 is pivotally mounted `on each pin I8. Each of the brackets 20 is made up of two parallel angles 22 and 24 connected at one end f' by means of a plate 26. The plate 26 has a hole therein for receiving a pin 28 which is fastened to and extends upwardly from plate I4. A bearing 30 is mounted oneach of angles'22 and 24 in any suitable manner. A shaft 32 passes through th `bearings 3D and supports a rotatable roller or disc 34. In a similar manner bearings 36 are mounted on the angles 22 and 24 adjacent the pin I8 for rotatably receiving a shaft 38. `Mounted on the shaft 38 for rotation therewith are a pulley A Smaller sprocket 44 is mounted in any suitable manner below the angle 24 in a bearing 46 supported by the angle 24. A chain 48 carrying teeth 50 extends between sprockets 42 and 44. A plate 52 of the same thickness as plate I6 is fastened beneath the rear end of angle 24. A line shaft 54, supported by the table 2, extends below and parallel to the angle 4. A plurality of pulleys 56, one for each bracket 2li is mounted on shaft 54 for rotation therewith. As best shown in Figure 5, a belt 58 extends between each pair of pulleys 40 and v56. A drive pulley 60 is also fastened to the shaft.54 adjacent the right hand `end thereof asshown in Figure 1. Pulley 60 is rotated from a pulley 62 by means of a belt 64. The pulley 62 is driven from a motor 66 through motor `shaft 68 pulley 10, belt 12, pulley 14 and gear box 16. The motor 66 and gear box 16 are mounted on a platform 18. An angle extends from one `of the vertical anglesa to the platform 18 and forms asuppcrt fastened to one end of a foot treadle 92. A bar 94 is suspended from the angle 6 and has a pivot bolt n 06 at its lower end for supporting the foot treadle 92. A hand lever 98 is also pivotally attached to bar 94 by means of bolt |00 and engages in an oversize notch in the plate I4. A pin |02 is rigidly attached to lever 98 in spaced relationship with the upper surface of plate I4, when the lever 98 assumes a vertical position, so that swinging movement of said lever toward either end is limited by contact of said pin with said plate.

A cutter support |04 is provided to the rear'V f feed table 2 intermediate the length thereof. As shown, the cutter support is fabricated from a plurality of angles welded together. A pair of cutters |06 is mounted in a housing |68 extending over the log L on the feed table 2. rEhe cutters |06 are preferably of the type shown in the copendng application of William J. Watts, Serial No. 611,329, filed August 18, 1945, now abandoned. As best shown in Figure '7, each cutter consists of a plurality of discs H0 having hooked teeth ||2 around their periphery. The discs are mounted on a shaft H6 and held in place thereon between a shoulder H6 and a nut |I8. A gear |26 is mounted on a sleeve |22 for rotation with shaft H4. One shaft H4 is connected to a drive shaftr|24 by means of sleeve |22. The shaft |24 is in turn connected to a flexible'shaft |26. The rear end of flexible shaft |26 is connected to one end of a shaft |28 mounted in a bearing |30 carried by the cutter support |04. As best shown in Figure 2, the other end of shaft |28 carries a pulley |32 which is driven from motor 66 by means of shaft 68, pulley |34 and belt |36. The other cutter |06 is driven by means of the gears |26 meshing with one another so vthat the cutters rotate in opposite directions. f desired, only one cutter may be provided, but two are preferred in order that the bark may be cut when the cutters are being moved in either direction. The housing |08 surrounds the top part of the cutters 3406 and is supported thereby on bearings |38 and |40; as shown in Figure 7. On each side of the housing |08 is mounted a spring loaded roller |42 forV limiting the depth of the cut and also for protecting the cutter teeth from damage due to-too deep penetration into the log being debarked. For supporting each roller |42 a pair of cylinders |44 is fastened to the housing |08. A member |46 is slidably mounted in each cylinder |44. The lower ends of members |46 support a shaft |48 which carries a roller |42 while the upper end extends through the top of cylinder |44 and has a nut fastened thereto for limiting the downward movement of roller |42. Shims |50 may be provided for changing the amount of this movement. Each of the members |46 is provided with a shoulder |52 against which bears a spring |54 for urging the roller |42 downwardly.

The shaft |24 is mounted for rotation in ball bearings |56 which in turn are supported by a horizontally movable carriage |88. A pair of spaced apart curved vertical tracks |60 is mounted on the front of cutter support |04 for receiving rollers |62 Vand |64 of a vertically movable carriage |66. The rollers |64 act to keep the rollers |62 on the track |60. The carriage |66 has a pair of spaced apart curved horizontal tracks |61 thereon for receiving rollers |68 and |10 which are supported on the carriage |58. A pulley |12 is mounted on top of cutter support |04. A counterweight |14 is provided for carriage |66 and is attached to a wire rope |16 which passes over pulley |12. A rod |11 is fastended to the end of rope |16 and to wire rope |19, the vends of which are attached to the carriage |66. One end of rod |16 extends over the table 2 and the other end is pivotally mounted at i8! on the cutter support |04.

A wire rope `|18 is fastened to each side of carriage|58 and passes therefrom over a pulley rearwardly to a pulley |82, around the pulley |82 downwardly to a pulley |84 and around pulley ||l4 to a crank lever |86 which is pivoted at |88 on the rear side of cutter support |04. The various pulleys are mounted on the support |04. The crank lever- |86 is provided with avslot |98 for receiving a slide |92. is a pulley |94 which drives a pulley |86.y by means of belt |98. The pulley |06 is mounted on the rear of support |04 by means of a shaft 200 which carries a second pulley 202. The slide |92 Vis carriedv by a pin 284 which is eccentrically mountedl on a pulley 266. lA shaft 208 is mounted on the rear side of support |04 for supporting the pulley 206. The pulley 206 is driven from pulley 202 by means of a belt'2l0. i

The operation of the device is as follows:

A `log L is cradled between the discs 34 and chains 46. While the chains 46 could be omitted they are definitely preferred since they enable logs of various diameters to be better accommodated. The motor y66 is started in operation and the operator steps on foot treadle 92 to force the pulley 86 against the belt 64, thus causing the drive shaft 54 to rotate. This, in turn, causes the chains 48 to revolve which causesthe log L to rotate and feed axially in the direction of the arrow in Figure vl. If a greater rate of feed ofthe log is desired, the lever 98 is pushed to move to the right as seen .in Fig-ure 3. This moves the plate i4 to the right which is the direction in which the log is being fed. By moving the plate |4 to a position where v the bracket 20 is at right angles to the plate no movement of the log takes place. If it is desired to feedthe log in the reverse direction, the plate |4- is moved to the left as shown in Figure 1 until the brackets 20 face inthe opposite direction to that shown. Rotation of motor 66 also causes the cutter |06 to revolve. At the same time the pulley 266 is rotated, thus causing thecrank lever |86 to move rapidly back and forth around its pivotv |68. This causes the cables |18 to rapidly reciprocate the carriage |58 in.a horizontal plane. The operator then pulls down on the bar |11 to permit the weight of the carriage |66 to feed the cutters |66 down on the log L. Additional pressure may be applied by the operator pushing down on the carriage |66. The amount of pressure applied determines the penetration of the cutter teeth-into the log. The rollers |42 bear on the log and as pressure is increased on the carriage |66, the members |46 rise against the pressure of springs |54, thus causing a greater portion ofthe teeth of the cutters |66 to be eX- posed. If the log has a knot or enlargement thereon, the carriage |66, after pressure thereon is removed, is free to be moved upwardlyby the counterbalance |14 or by lifting up the bar |11.

Mounted on shaft 68 The rapid reciprocation of the cutters |06 enables the bark to be quickly removed fromv the log L as it rotates about its axis. One cutter operates on the log when moving in one direction and the other operates on the log when moving in the reverse direction. Operation of the device is possible with only one cutter, but in such a case the removal of the bark is not as rapid. If deemed desirable, clutches may be provided between the motor 66 and the flexible shaft |26 and also between the motor B6 and the pulley 206. In this manner these drives may be operated at will in the same manner that the pulley 86 connects and disconnects the drive of shaft 54.

While one embodiment of our invention has been shown and described it will be apparent that other adaptations and modifications may be made without departing from the scope of the following claims.

We claim:

1. A log debarking machine comprising a table.

for supporting a traveling and rotating log, a support at the rear of said table extending above said table, vertical trackways on the front side of said sup-port, a carriage vertically movable on said trackways, horizontal trackways on said carriage, a carriage horizontally movable on said horizontal trackways, a cutter mounted on said horizontally movable carriage and extending over Said log, the axis of said cutter extending transversely of the axis oi said log, means for rotating said cutter, means for moving the rst named carriage vertically so as to feed the cutter to said log, and means for reciprocating the horizontally movable carriage.

2. A log debarking machine comprising a table for supporting a traveling and rotating log, a support at the rear of said table extending above said table, vertical trackways on the front side of said support, a carriage vertically movable on said trackways, horizontal trackways on said carriage, a carriage horizontally movable on said horizontal trackways, a cutter mounted on said horizontally movable carriage and extending over said log, the axis of said cutter extending transversely of the axis of said log, means for rotating said cutter, means for moving the rst named carriage vertically so as to feed the cutter to said log, a crank arm p-ivotally mounted on the rear of said support, a pair of ilexible members one connected to each side of said horizontally movable carriage, the other end of each of said flexible members being connected to said crank arm, and means for moving said crank arm about its pivot to reciprocate the horizontally movable carriage. i

3. A log debarking machine comprising a table for supporting a traveling and rotating log, a Vsupport at the rear of said table extending above said table, vertical trackways on the front side of said support, a carriage vertically movable on said trackways, horizontal trackways on said carriage, a carriage horizontally movable on said horizontal trackways, a cutter housing on said horizontal carriage extending over said log, a cutter rotatably mounted in said housing and extending over said log, the axis of said cutter extending transversely of the axis of said log, means for rotating said cutter, a spring loaded roller mounted on each side of said housing, the

axes of said rollers being parallel to the axis of said cutter, means for moving the first named carriage vertically so as to feed the cutter to said log, and means for reciprocating the horizontally movable carriage.

4. A log debarking machine comprising a table for supporting a traveling and rotating log, a support at the rear of said table extending above said table, vertical trackways on the front side of said support, a carriage vertically movable on said trackways, horizontal trackways on said carriage, a carriage horizontally movable on said horizontal trackways, a cutter housing on said horizontal carriage extending over said log, a cutter rotatably mounted in said housing and extending over said log, the axis of said cutter extending transversely of the axis of said log, means for rotating said cutter, a spring loaded roller mounted on each side of said housing, the axes of said rollers being parallel to the axis of said cutter, means for moving the first named carriage vertically so as to feed the cutter to said log, a crank arm pivotally mounted on the rear of said support, a pair of flexible members one connected to each side of said horizontally movable carriage, the other end of each of said flexible members being connected to said crank arm, and means for moving said crank arm about its pivot to reciprocate the horizontally movable carriage.

5. A log debarking machine comprising a table, for supporting a traveling and rotating log, a support at the rear of said table extending above said table, vertical trackways on the front side of said support, a carriage vertically movable on said trackways, horizontal trackways on said carriage, a carriage horizontally movable on said horizontal trackways, a cutter housing on said horizontal carriage extending over said log, a'

pair of cutters rotatably mounted in said housing, the axes of said cutters extending transversely oi the axis or" said log, a spring loaded roller mounted on each side of said housing, the axes of said rollers being parallel to the axes of said cutters, means for rotating said cutters in opposite directions, means for moving the rst named carriage vertically so as to feed the cutters to said log, a crank arm pivotally mounted on the rear of said support, a pair of iiexible members one connected to each side of said horizontally movable carriage, the other end of each of said flexible members being connected to said crank arm, and means for moving said crank arm about its pivot to reciprocate the horizontally movable carriage.

WILLIAM J. WATTS.

FRANK B. CADMAN.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record :in the le of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 915,919 Wilkinson Mar. 23, 1909 1,438,904 Crouse et al. Dec. l2, 1922 2,233,219 Nicholson Feb. 25, 1941 FOREIGN PATENTS Number Country Date 24,060 Norway Oct. 2, 1912 

